Voltcom Crescent Suzuki will start Sunday’s races from the third row of the grid after another consistent showing within the top 10 at Motorland Aragon in Spain today.

Eugene Laverty suffered a turbulent morning after technical issues hindered his progress in the last timed free practice session, but the Irishman regrouped to put in a solid performance on the Suzuki GSX-R1000, leaving him eighth on the timesheets ahead of tomorrow’s two races.

Alex Lowes continued to improve on the Yoshimura-powered machine as his confidence with the Spanish track increased, finding two seconds from his Friday times. Lowes will round out the third row, lining up next to his teammate for his first European race of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship.

A cooler day with intermittent light showers and a highest temperature of 20°C, saw a number of riders struggle with the changeable conditions, as the teams evaluated tyre choice ahead of Sunday’s new-look early race schedule. Tom Sykes regained his Superpole chalice setting a time of 1’56.479.

Voltcom Crescent Suzuki is on track for the first Motorland Aragon race tomorrow at 10:30hrs local time (09:30BST) with the second instalment scheduled for 13:10hrs local time (12:10BST).

Eugene Laverty:

“The most dramatic day of the year! It’s hard to be more dramatic than Phillip Island race day, but this seemed to be. We had problems with the bike smoking, so we were in and out of the pits. It seemed like the engine was fine, but we lost a lot of track time. The chassis feeling is much better than yesterday so that I can be happy with. Grid position, I usually like to be on those first two rows so it’s not ideal, but with a good start tomorrow on the Suzuki GSX-R I can try to go with them.”

Alex Lowes:

“I think it’s obvious that we are struggling a little, but I made some big improvements today and I’m a lot closer than I was yesterday. It’s always hard work when it’s not quite going right and it’s a new track, but I’ll be alright. It’s obviously tomorrow that is important so we will keep working to be stronger for the races.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s tricky Aragon weekend continued today, but with some very positive signs that we are close to finding the solutions to allow the guys to run closer to the front. Alex has found two seconds on the race tyre compared to yesterday, and Eugene has also taken a significant step forward in speed and consistency. The qualifying laps weren’t as good as either rider might have hoped, but I think we will be a lot closer to the pace over race distance than we were over a single lap.”

Aragon – eni FIM Superbike World Championship – Superpole:

1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’56.479:
2. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) +0.196:
3. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) +0.290:
4. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) +0.346:
5. Jonathan Rea (Honda) +0.493:
8. EUGENE LAVERTY (VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI) +1.257:
9. ALEX LOWES (VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI) +1.496:

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